Shared with permission of the BioInspired Syracuse Institute.
As we move beyond the one-year mark of this unprecedented, stressful pandemic, BioInspired wants to send a message that attempts to spark some hope and joy while providing concrete ideas to combat the fatigue that many of us are feeling. The continued, combined stresses of hybrid teaching, managing groups virtually, lack of childcare support for many, and the uncertainty surrounding our return to “normal” make this one a particularly difficult semester.
Therefore, we have collaborated with the Center for Teaching and Learning Excellence (CTLE) to highlight some time management strategies to preserve your limited energy. Also, we have linked to a self-reflection exercise to help you re-spark the joy of research that motivates all of us to be here. Finally, we preview several programs that BioInspired will be hosting in the early summer to kick-start your public outreach and research efforts. There is light at the end of this tunnel!
1. Some ideas for rest and rejuvenation:
- Campus mental health experts indicate that having two wellness days will likely be insufficient to maintain everyone’s mental health. Faculty can consider additional ways to augment mental health status. For example:
- plan additional wellness day(s) for your class. Consider connecting that day to a weekend.
- plan a “no homework” (without grading!) week where work to learn the material is completed in class.
- plan one or more of these activities to add a teaching breather in your courses.
- Curate your “yes” and “no.” If you say “yes” to something, then think about and decide upon those things to which you will say “no.”
- Intentionally create tech-free time, and set expectations with your students. “I will answer emails at 9 am M-F; I will not answer emails on weekends.” Level-set expectations together.
2. Reconnect to the energy and joy that you get from pursuing your research. To do so, consider taking a few minutes to think about the reflection prompt posted on our website.
3. The BioInspired Institute is hosting several events later this semester and early in the summer that will help you manage your trainees and get your public outreach and research efforts back up to speed:
- The Graduate Student and Postdoctoral Professional Development Program is launching a Project Management series in a few weeks, details here. These valuable project management skills will help your trainees be more effective and focused in the lab, taking some of the burden off you for both mentoring and oversight.
- We are developing programming for faculty to help streamline and support education and public outreach programs that encompass broader impact activities for funding proposals. The first of several workshops, hosted by experts from the Center for Teaching and Learning Excellence, will be held on June 3 and focuses on a “Public Outreach/Broader Impacts Gallery”. Each participant will bring a simple 1-slide presentation (based on a template we provide) to share their education/public outreach/broader impacts experiences. Besides sharing best practices and new ideas, this Gallery will help BioInspired develop partnerships and infrastructure to support future public outreach and education initiatives for our members. See the attached PDF of two slides as examples of the upcoming gallery and an additional example of a public-facing program that will inspire us to be creative with our outreach. There is nothing you have to do now!
- We will also be working with Focus Groups over the summer to support collaborative and larger-scale research and training proposals. In collaboration with focus group leaders we will be developing workshops and peer mentoring activities to help ramp-up research activities (as that becomes more feasible after the completion of the Spring semester).
- Let us know if you have other suggestions! How can we support what you’re doing?
Many thanks to Martha Diede and Laurel Willingham-McLain, Center for Teaching and Learning Excellence, for assistance in collecting these materials. We look forward to seeing you all in upcoming events, hopefully in person!